Dancing shantytowns - 150 children in Casablanca

January 2008: Difficult beginning This year and through the 3 areas targeted, we reach about 130 children. After the first 2 months, we established the final lists and paid the insurance duties to cover children in case of accident during the lessons. We also divide the children into 8 groups regarding to their school schedule and their age. We met many difficulties at the beginning of the year. In addition to the children indiscipline and their irregularity despite their great motivation to be a part of the program we had to face the misunderstanding of people. For example: one day we were surprised to see that none of the children enrolled in the program came to attend the planned lessons. We tried to understand the reason behind this. We knew that their Arabic teacher at school has forbidden their participation to the dance lessons. She has threatened them by saying she will give them bad marks if they disobey. The day after we went to the school to met the pedagogic staff. We were pleased to notice that the school director himself was defending our program. We invite the Arabic teacher to attend our lessons and see that there’s nothing neither indecent nor disrespectful to our culture and traditions… A week later, all the children attended the dance lessons!

February 2008: the first “Battle” In the hip hop culture, a battle is a duel between 2 groups of dancers. After almost 4 months of training, we’ve decided to organize the first battle. More than a competition, the battle is the opportunity for all the children of the 3 sites to meet each other, compare their level, and simply to unwind on a dance floor… The 17th of February : the Battle’s day. Children were very excited. They came to “defend” their color: black for “Zaraba”, blue for “Derb Moulay Cherif” and red for “Blevédère”. Before the event, we’ve prepared children and explained to them that it was not a real battle and that they have to respect each other and to be fairplay in case of loss… It wasn’t easy to stop them “fighting” through dance. The hardest thing was to designate a winner. And the winner was : ZARABA. March 2008: medical follow-up By the end of February, Dr David, a volunteer doctor, started the medical visits to all the children of the program. Through theses consultations, he will evaluate the global state of the children’s health and decide what L’Heure Joyeuse can do to improve their health situation. To be continued …